Annelids: A Rather Squirmy Lab

Our Marine Biodiversity lab this past Friday focused on Annelids, the worms of the animal kingdom. Our main goal was to become familiar with the various body types and structures, providing us with the tools to identify the various squirming creatures we collected on a field trip a few weeks ago. This blog is as much as a photo study guide for me as to share what we’re learning, so get ready for lots of lovely worm info!

First of all, we had to understand the three different body types of worms: acoelomate, pseudocoelomate, and coelomate. A coelom is a fluid-filled body cavity that serves as a “cushioning” between the outside of an animal and it’s guts. It also allows for separation and compartmentalization of organs and other body features. Animals lacking a coelom, such as Planaria (a flatworm) are considered more primitive and are labeled as acoelomates.

Image from http://www.uic.edu/classes/bios/bios104/labs/animals/acoelom.jpg

We were able to look at a cross-section of Planaria under the microscope to see this body structure.

Image from http://faculty.baruch.cuny.edu/

You can see that there’s really nothing separating the outside of the outside (epidermal) layer of the animal from the gut cavity. Everything is filled by parenchyma, or the tissues of the various organs.

The next body type is pseudocoelomate, or “false” coelomate. These animals have more of a space in their body cavity, but there is no connective tissue or muscle to support the gut within the fluid of the coelom.  There is still no membrane surrounding the gut and internal organs, or peritoneum. For this reason, it is known as a false coelom.

Image from http://www.uic.edu/classes/bios/bios104/labs/animals/pscoelom.jpg

We were able to look at the cross-section of Ascaris (parasitic nematode worms). You can see that the body structure is slightly more complex.

Image from http://www.esu.edu/

Finally, coelomates make up the last body type. These animals, like humans, have a lined body cavity that provides support for the coelom.

Image from http://www.uic.edu/classes/bios/bios104/labs/animals/coelom.jpg

We examined a polychaete worm known as Nereis, noting the muscle bands, nerve cords, and other internal body structures.

Image from http://www.uic.edu/

They phylum Annelida is represented by coelomates. Though there are other worms that have aceolomate and pesudoceolomate body structures, they belong to other phylums. Their body is composed of repeating segments, and they have a circulatory system. Our lab focused on the class known as Polychaeta, which are almost entirely marine. These guys have a pari of parapodia (leg-like structures) with many setae (hair-like structures) on each segment. Their head is usually well-developed and contains sense organs.

Okay, here we go!

Family Arenicolidae

Image from http://www.discoverlife.org/

These worms, also known as lugworms, do not have appendages, but like to burrow in the sediment, looking for deposited organic materials to feast upon. In their mid-section, you can see the little parapodia and gills on each segment.

Family Orbiniidae

Image from http://ceratium.ietc.wwu.edu/

Orbiniidae are also deposit feeders that burrow in the sediment of tidal sand and mud flats. Their bodies, however, are divided more distinctly. The thorax makes up the first section of the body (on the left), and you can see the little parapodia (leg-like structures) coming off of the abdomen (which makes up the rest of the body). The very first segment of the head is known as the prostomium, and the peristomium is the second. The prostomium comes to a point or is truncated, unlike Arenicolidae. The head also has no palps (appendage-like mouthparts).

Family Eunicidae

Image from http://www.stroembergiensis.se/

The name of this polychaete literally means “many bristles,” and they can be found in the crevices and algae holdfasts (or root-like structures) in the temperate rocky reefs of marine environments. As you can see, they have very large jaws. This allows several members of this family to be carnivorous, though there are also many omnivores. A few Eunicidae species can grow to be longer than a meter in length, and they are amongst the largest Polychaetes. They can be identified by their rounded prostomium from which projects five appendages, two palps and three central antennae. Bright red gills also extend from the parapodia. It’s a bit difficult to see since they are very small, but the photo does show little red, feathery gills along each little leg-like structure on the body.

Family Nerididae

Image from http://nathistoc.bio.uci.edu/

Nereididae reminded me of the millipedes we used to carry around in bug boxes in Disney. These guys had lots of little legs that worked together in a wave-like motion. Their main characteristics are their well-developed sense organs. Their prostomium has two anterior tentacles, two jointed palps, and four eyes.

Family Syllidae

Image from http://convoluta.ucdavis.edu/

This family is the most diverse of the polychaetes and its species are found in all types of marine environments. The main feature used to identify this group is the proventricle (a little round spot that is part of the digestive tract). In the photo above, you can see a little brown spot behind the head– that’s it. They also have three antennae on their first body segment and a toothed pharynx (an organ by the mouth used to eat).

Family Serpulidae

Image from http://spineless.ucsd.edu/

Tube worms are some of my favorites. These guys form calcareous tubes and live together in groups, working collectively to fan in and filter out sediments with their feather-like tops. We were supposed to focus on the various body sections: the head, thorax, and abdomen. The thorax has a sort of collar that distinguishes it from other worms. They also have an operculum, which is used as a sort of “door” when the worm pulls itself inside the tube to hide. A central grove runs along the ventral surface of the body and curves up towards the thorax. As you can imagine, living in a tube makes waste disposal a slightly more complex process, and this grove helps with that.

Family Sabellidae

Image from http://ocean.nationalgeographic.com/

Representing this family, we had some rather large feather duster worms! These guys are different from Serpulidae because they lack an operculum to protectively “close” their body cavity when they pull inside their tubes. The tubes for this family are made from mucilage (a snot-like substance) and sand from the sediment. If you poke the tube it’s rather squishy and a bit spongy. It’s almost like squeezing a cattail. They’re rather interesting little creatures.

Family Spionidae

Image from http://researchdata.museum.vic.gov.au/

Found throughout soft-sediment environments, Spionidae are identified by their  large, grooved feeding palps extending from the top of the head. Their prostomium is also rather prolonged, and you can see it in the photo extending almost like a lengthy nose structure. supposedly, on either side of the head they have notopodia (larger parapodial lobes behind the head) and gills, but I had difficulty seeing these structures.

Family Cirratulidae

Image from http://invertebrates.si.edu/

I’d describe this family as quite the mess! When I first looked at our specimen, it took me a few seconds to find the body underneath its wriggling mass of tentacles. They like to burrow and crawl in the sediments and are often found in seagrass beds and the enriched sediments of estuaries. Along their body, they have a pair of gills per body segment, and the tentacular filaments may almost cover the body.

Family Terebellidae

I actually took the photo of this one! Spaghetti worms, one of the sci-fi stars of the ocean world (of which there are many)! Those thin little tentacles are non-retractable. They’re deposit feeders, so they sift through organic materials deposited in the sediments and consume them. When I looked under the microscope I could actually see little particles trapped in the tentacles which were slowly being worked towards the mouth. It was freaky and fascinating all at the same time. If one of those spaghetti-like appendages is lost, they can actually regrow them. Handy, huh?

At the end of lab, we had time to identify the worms we had managed to collect in our lab in the weeks prior. My group found very few species in the area we surveyed. I’m not sure if it was because we picked a poor spot or if it was due to some other reason, but we found three worms in our samples overall. Two of them we found to be Syllidae and the other seemed to belong to the family Magelonidae. We didn’t look at this family in our lab, but the worm had characteristics described in the literature that matched this group (a tube-like structure on the bottom half of its body and  large palps). They’re also common to the sandy sediments we were sampling.

At the end of the day I found myself carrying around much more knowledge about worms than I ever thought I would need. Next week we’ll be focussing on another phylum. I think I found myself most fascinated with the spaghetti and feather duster worms this week. Which Annelid was your favorite?

Annelids, Echinoderms, and Cnidarians! Oh, my!

This past week we had a Marine Biology lab focusing on the characteristics of individual phyla and functional feeding groups. Functional feeding groups are categories, used as way of identifying organisms based on their preferred methods of finding food. For instance, if an animal hunts individual prey items, it can be classified as a predator. Other groups consist of suspension/filter feeders (that filter particles out of the water column), deposit feeders (that sift particles deposited into the sediment), and grazers/browsers (that feed on plants or groups of non-moving animals). The problem with lumping animals into functional feeding groups, is that many times, they can overlap into multiple categories. It is deemed useful, however, as it is one method to begin investigating new and unknown creatures.

Our job for the first part of lab was to examine organisms that were labeled according to their functional feeding groups and identify which phylum they belonged to based on their defining characteristics.

(The videos I included below are just to give you a bit more information or to add a bit of clarification to the things I talk about with each animal. They’re simply there if you’re interested.)

The first critter I looked at was a deposit feeder.

Deposit Feeder (Sea Cucumber)

Lovely looking little things aren’t they? Not having much first-hand experience with the ocean, my initial instinct was that they were a worm of some sort, but then I realized that they had spiny skin. Echinodermata is a phylum derived from the Greek term for “spiny skin.” Echinoderms consist of sea stars, sea urchins, sea cucumbers, and their relatives. Sea cucumber seemed to be the most fitting title to these round little guys. Interestingly, echinoderms have a characteristic radial symmetry, usually in groupings of five. This can easily be seen when looking at a sea star. If you start from the center and work your way around in a clockwise motion, the animal’s body repeats a similar structure five times (notice the five legs).

Sea Star

Another Sea Star

Echinoderms also have a water-vascualr system. This system gives them a method of locomotion, allowing for controlled movement. On each of the five repeated segments, echinoderms have hundreds of little tube feet, also known as podia. The water-vascular system is composed of a network of radial canals, which are then joined to the tube feet via some sort of lateral connection. These canals and the tube feet are filled with sea water, and through the expansion and contraction of certain chambers in the water-vascular system, the echinoderms are able to force water into specific tube feet. If done in the correct order, they are able to “walk.” Many of these animals also have several characteristics that make them unique from others in their collective phylum.

My next mystery species was a predator, but it wasn’t much of a mystery! I absolutely love cephalopods, which belong to the phylum Mollusca, and this little guy couldn’t have been more obvious.

Octopus

Mollusca consists of organisms such as squid, octopi, cuttlefish, scallops, clams, mussels, snails, slugs, limpets, and chitons. In my opinion, cephalopods (squid, octopi, cuttlefish, and nautilus) are the most charismatic group in this phylum.

Mollusks all have the same general body plan, in that they consist of a head, foot, and mass of internal organs, which is typically covered by the mantel. Many members of this phylum also have a shell or some sort of modified shell. They usually have a radula, which is a little extendable structure found in the mouth. It’s used for feeding, whether that be drilling holes in shells or rasping food off a surface. They usually have at least one set of gills for respiration.

Limpets (Mollusca)

Mussel (Mollusca) The shell is cracked open, and you can see the pink, fleshy gill used to siphon out organic particles.

The next creature was a suspension or filer feeder. Though the microscope was initially focused in on an anemone, we were supposed to be identifying a sea sponge. Anemones belong to the phylum Cnidaria. This grouping consists of jellyfish, corals, and sea anemones, which all have very primitive multicellular body structures. All Cnidarians have some form of stinging structure, and their body can either be in the form of a polyp (a sedentary form, like a sea anemone) or medusa (a motile form, such as a jellyfish). Their skeleton is made up of closed compartments containing pressurized fluid. They use their muscles to change the shape of these individual compartments in order to move.

The stinging structures in these organisms function through the use of a venom. Interestingly, many of these venoms are being researched in labs around the word in order to identify their chemical properties and possible usage in the pharmaceutical world. For instance, sea anemones have become of great interest in cancer research.

As I mentioned, the organism we were originally supposed to be identifying was a sea sponge. Sponges belong to the phylum Proifera. The main characteristic of these odd creatures is their feeding system. They lack mouths, but instead draw water through microscopic pores on their outer cell walls. The cells filter out any organic particulates for the sponge to feed upon and expels the unnecessary water and waste products through the other side. They have the simplest faunal cellular organization, called cellular-level organization. This means that they have no tissues, but cells are specialized for certain functions.  Flagella, little wavy “arms” that line the surface chambers of the animal drive this water current in its forward, unidirectional motion. Some sponges can actually be carnivorous, though this is an exception rather than the norm.

Sponges are such blob-like organisms. They seem much more plant-like at first glance than animal, but they are animals nonetheless.

The next organism I observed was another that I never would have guessed to be an animal. This photo is as close as I could get to the image I saw under the microscope:

Sea Squirt (Image from http://www.botany.hawaii.edu/)

I had absolutely no idea what it was. I could see the white blob, that there were two openings (one for feeding and the other for expelling waste), but other than that I was clueless. After asking one of the professors running the lab, I found out it was a sea squirt. Even after that clarification, I still had no idea what it was. Apparently all of my experience studying marine fauna on Lake Michigan was not kicking in (haha).

Sea squirts get their name from their somewhat entertaining ability to squirt water when squeezed. Their basic function is to attach to substances and work as filters, taking in water and particles in one siphon and squirting it out the other. They’re perfectly harmless when their native to an area, but invasive sea squirts can become quite a problem.

Despite their odd structure, sea squirts belong to the phylum Chordata. Chordates consist of many of the animals that are most familiar to the general public. The main characteristics that define this diverse phylum might only be observed during the embryonic stage, modified in development, and essentially “lost” for the duration of its life. For example, humans belong to the phylum Chordata, however, we do not retain the post-anal tail that can be observed during the embryonic stage. Pharyngeal slits (or a row of openings that join the interior of the throat with the outside of the neck), a dorsal nerve cord, and notochord also characterize Chordates. A dorsal nerve chord consists of a group of nerve fibers that runs down the back, connecting the brain to muscles and other organs. The notochord is a cartalage-like support system for the dorsal nerve chord. Somehow, categorizing this little blobby guy and a fish into the same phylum seems a bit odd to me, but the dots start to connect once you draw out the individual characteristics.

Fish (Chordate)

One of the craziest phyla is Annelida. Some of these wormy creatures are quite alien-like. In short, Annelids are segmented worms such as earthworms, leeches, and polychaetes. We focused mainly on polychaetes, since they’re quite common in marine environments. Many of them are deposit feeders or filter feeders, and they have feathery appendages branching off of their heads that allow them to do so.

Besides having segments, another defining characteristic of annelids is that they have a fluid-filled space between the gut and the body wall. This is called a coelom. By pushing fluid through the coelom through the individual cavities, and using the muscles surrounding each segment, annelids are able to inch along the ocean floor. They use their parapodia (little leg-like structures branching out from each segment) to grip the ground as they move, and have a completely enclosed circulatory system.

And finally, the last phylum we encountered was Arthropoda. This is an extremely diverse group (but then again, which group isn’t?), consisting of animals like tarantulas to lobsters. Barnacles, shrimp, crabs, and lobsters are a few Arthropods you might encounter in the ocean. Like Annelids, they have segmented bodies, but they also have paired, jointed legs and antennae. Their body is covered by a chitinous exoskeleton that must be shed to allow for growth. They have a dorsal nervous system and an open circulatory system, meaning that the circulatory fluid is not always enclosed within vessels.

Some of these guys are pretty intense:

Moreton Bay Bug (Arthropoda)

For the second part of our lab, we were given similar tasks, but we had the additional task of determining what functional feeding group the organism might belong to based on the mouth parts we observed.

It was an interesting lab and we were able to observe many different animals from a range of phyla. I think I learned more about each individual phylum writing this blog though! There are a lot of interesting creatures out there, and I know we have just begun to scratch the surface.

The Wonderful World of Algae

Last week Friday was our first lab for Marine Biodiversity. At the moment, the lecture topic is centered around primary productivity and plant life. In other words we’re learning about algae. As a result of that, our lab gave us the amazing opportunity to stare at algal features for 3 hours straight! Who’s excited!? In all seriousness though, if plants aren’t your thing, it wasn’t as bad as it sounds.

Microscope… also commonly referred to as a telescope if you’re talking to me… I don’t know, for some reason it’s a Freudian slip of mine.

Our goal of the day was to become familiar with the different taxonomic groups of algae. The word algae itself is an interesting topic. I’ve always pronounced algae with the “g” sound in “germ.” From what I’ve heard in Australia, they pronounce it with a “g” sound in “ghost.” Gotta love accents!

Anyways… my professor actually studies algae, so she had a lot more planned for us than we were able to get though, but nonetheless, we made an attempt! We worked with partners, moving through the lab manual, taking notes, and making scientific drawings when appropriate.

The first division we examined was Rhodophyta, or red algae. Our mission was to identify the species, identify if a holdfast was on our specimen and label the stipe and blade. In layman’s terms, we were looking if there was a root-like structure (or some form of base attachment), trunk-like part, and leaf-like things. Here’s a short video explaining the different parts of algae, using kelp (brown algae) as their focus.

Rhodophyta

We were also supposed to look at the color of our plants, and based on that make an estimate as to where they might be found vertically in the ocean. Plants reflect different colors based on the pigments they have and what part of the color spectrum they absorb from the sun. Light that isn’t absorbed by the plant is reflected, which makes up the colors that we see. For example, many of our land plants contain chlorophyll, absorbing red and blue lights while reflecting green. Light in the ocean, however, can sometimes prove to be a problem. As you go deeper, light cannot penetrate as well. Red light is not able to reach the same depths as blue and green lights.

Image from http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/

For this reason, some plants have alternative methods of absorbing light in order to cope and survive. They might have an extremely high concentration of chlorophyll, resulting in an extremely dark green color, almost to the point of being black. Alternative pigments, other than chlorophyll, are also used, causing the plants to reflect different colors.

One of the Rhodophyta specimens we had was dark maroon, and the other was pinkish with green in certain areas. The darker plant would be assumed to survive at greater depths and to have more pigments, while the second, lighter plant would be expected to be found living closer to the surface.

Drawings of Rhodophyta

The next group we examined was the division Chlorophyta, or green algae, specifically of the common genera Ulva. 

Ulva (green algae)

We used our dissecting kits to cut of a small piece of the thallus, or the plant body of the algae, and examined it more closely under the microscope, mounting it on a slide with water and a coverslip. We drew the arrangement of cells that we saw and were supposed to determine if our plant was reproductive by looking at the cells around the edges. If the cells were different from those in the interior of the specimen, it was probably developing into a reproductive stage. Unfortunately, none of our plants were reproductive, so I still have no idea what it’s supposed to look like! No biflagellated gametes, quadriflagellated spores, gametophyte, or sporophyte identification for us.

We were, however, able to partially identify a nucleus and banana shaped chloroplasts around the edges of the cells.

Ulva (drawing of rough morphology and cellular features)

It started off as my partner an I blankly staring through the telescope, feeling cross-eyed as we tried to focus on one of the plant’s 2 layers of cells. We eventually found a nucleus, and guessed as to the location of chloroplasts. It was a very scientific method (the guessing). Our professor projected some cells on the screen, however, in order to point out the obscure chloroplasts, which made it much easier to identify on our own specimen. Finally, we took a shot at using a dichotomous key to identify which species we had, and our consensus was U. fasciata.

The next task was to mount Chaetomorpha on a slide and draw the uniseriate filaments. In other words, we were supposed to look and see how the pieces of algae were made up of cells stacked together in a single row, sort of like the beads on a necklace.

Chaetomorpha

We identified the nucleus and chloroplasts, which were completely different from the banana shaped ones in the previous specimen. These were more like a chained web of chloroplasts. They sort of reminded me of the net-like Christmas lights you can purchase that you just throw over the bushes.

Chaetomorpha and Codium

Finally, we examined a small piece of codium under the microscope. The cells in this plant were completely different! Rather than the round or unisarate filaments we had looked at earlier, this plants cells looked like little torpedos that had been clustered together. It’s amazing how much a microscope can reveal sometimes.

Codium

By that time, our 3 hour lab was up and we were instructed to take photos of the other types of algae that we weren’t able to get to that day.

Brown Algae (Ecklonia)

Brown Algae (Cystophora)

Morphlogical Variation in Hormosira banksii

an example of the holdfast

Seagrasses

Overall, we were supposed to gain an understanding of the diversity of marine plants, and I think that was accomplished. There are definitely a lot of different types of algae out there. Algae is an intergral part of our ocean and terrestrial exosystems. Two out of every three breaths you take contains oxygen provided by ocianic primary productivity. It’s amazing! Anthropogenic activities, howeve, can have a huge impact on these ecosystems. Fertelizers, pollutants, and other substances wasehed into our oceans can cause algal blooms, resulting in dead zones, completely depleated of oxygen. Introduction of invasive species, such as sea urchins, can descimate a community of kelp, altering the original structure of life that once existed. This video explains a bit about this relationship:

Tasmania is currently facing the issue of invasive sea urchins.

Amazingly, algae is also being investigated for an alternative source of energy.

Though it might night seem as exciting as learning about vertebrates, such as whales, squid, and sharks, algae is really important in order to gain a basic understanding of the ecosystems that exist in our oceans. They are responsible for much of the life that exists and how that life survives. It’s really an amazing organism.

 

Tasmania: Our Final Day

On our last morning in Tasmania we left Bicheno Backpackers around 8:00am and headed out to Wineglass Bay. We had about two and a half hours to do the hike we chose at our leisure. In order to get to the beach and back to our tour bus, you had to hike up one side of the mountain, down to the beach, and then back up the cliff side to go back down to the van. This was another day we got our workout in, and though my calves were definitely feeling it that night, it was worth the trip.

Wineglass Bay

The Beach

On our way back up from the beach, we came across a wallaby who was just a little too friendly with humans.

Wallaby

Our guide was explaining to us that many of the wallaby in the area have actually developed lumpy jaw disease due to humans feeding them. It’s a type of jaw infection that can be caused by poor diet. He said that he’s seen people feed them chocolate, pizza, potato chips… all foods that wallaby obviously not meant to consume. Another issue stemmed from feeding the animals is their reduced ability to find food for themselves. They become dependant upon the human hand that provides for them. Even if they don’t wind up with lumpy jaw disease, this reliance can become detrimental in the winter months when the number of visitors to the area is greatly reduced. Without the ability to forage for themselves, and without the regular tourist there to feed them, the wallaby are susceptible to starvation. No matter where you are folks, there’s a reason park rangers, zoo keepers, and others ask you to please not feed the animals!

Once we powered up the hill and returned to the tour van, we headed out to Ross. It was a small town with lots of antique and craft stores. There were two little bakeries, a wool museum (enticing, I know), and an interesting intersection known as the Four Corners. The buildings on each of the corners consisted of a church, a bar, the town hall, and the jail. It was sort of odd little mash-up.

Ross Church

When we were walking, we came across a sign on the ground that read “Female Factory.” We were curious and followed the arrows, but never found anything. Later we found a historical marker sign that also pointed to “Female Factory,” but it went in a direction perpendicular to the arrows we saw on the ground… so we weren’t really sure where or what it was.

Female Factory

Google, however, is a wonderful thing. When we returned I looked it up, and apparently the Female Factory used to be a factory where the female convicts of Tasmania worked… interesting.

After Ross we visited Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary, which is a rescue for injured and sick animals. They are also working to protect the endangered Tasmanian devil. We were given a brief tour and time to feed the kangaroos and check out the other animals. Our first interaction was with an elderly, grumpy koala.

Koala

At one point he jumped down from the tree and tried to make a break for it. Our guide was able to scoop him up and held onto him after that. We all had the opportunity to pet the fur on his bum, and then it was time for him to retire to his eucalyptus tree for the night. You’ve gotta love those fuzzy ears.

We were shown the Tasmanian devils next. They’re rather shy and reclusive creatures, and they had a bit of difficulty getting them to come out of hiding, but a dead chick was enough to encourage them.

Tasmanian Devil

The sanctuary had a two-year-old wombat, but he decided that his burrow was a much safer spot to be than out in front of us. I can’t blame the little guy. I’d probably be hiding in my burrow after being looked at, photographed, and in the public eye all day. It was also getting quite windy and it seemed as if a storm was moving in. Before we left, we did happen to see a different wombat wandering about. I was finally able to get a photo of a wombat from the front! They seem to prefer to show me their rear when my camera comes out.

Wombat

As part of our tour, we were each given a small bag of pellets to feed the kangaroos. They had a lot of kangaroos, but all of them were so well-fed by the time we were there. The first few we tried to feed just kinda stared at us like, “Really? That’s all you have for me? Do you know how often I get that? Please…” There were a few further down the hill though who were more than happy to receive a few pellets.

Kangaroo Feeding

Another neat animal we came across was a quoll, a carnivorous marsupial. I think they had three at the sanctuary, and they were quite lively little guys, running back and forth across the branches.

Quoll

Having seen a Tasmanian devil and the unexpected perk of petting a koala, my imaginary must-do list of Tasmania had its final boxes checked. Our group met up at the van and headed out for Hobart. Knowing we needed to get a taxi to the airport later that afternoon, our guide dropped us off at Salamanca Market in Hobart, saying adios to “Team America.” We wandered around the market for a while, but everything was closing for the afternoon, so we found ourselves walking along the harbour. At about 7:00pm we hopped in a Taxi. Our Korean driver was quite talkative and really enjoyed his abalone and crab! He kept telling us all about the great spots to get amazing seafood in Tasmania… not knowing that two of his three passengers were vegetarian, haha! It would have been good advise if we weren’t though!

Hobart

Our flight didn’t leave until 10:40pm, so we had plenty of time to kill in the airport. We read and chatted until our departure and arrived in Melbourne around midnight. The two girls I was traveling with were headed to Sydney the next day, with a flight departing in the afternoon. I’ll be going to Sydney during the trimester break, so I was headed back to Warrnambool, but the train didn’t depart until 7:19am the next day. It was airport camping for us! We wandered down a wing of the airport that didn’t have any departures so we would be in a quieter area, but an airport worker preferred that we be in an area with more people. (Apparently three American girls look like they might make a lot of trouble, but it was no big deal.) We stretched out on the benches/floor until morning. At about 5:00am I headed out to the train station and made it back to Warrnambool around 10:30am. It was quite the day, and it was nice to be back!

All in all, it was a great trip! There was a bit of confusion about the dates, but it all worked out in the end. We had a lot of great experiences and I’d love to go back sometime. For now, however, it’s time to start planning for the trimester break to Sydney and Cairns! My mom will be flying into Sydney to meet up with me, and hopefully my dad will be able to fly over when we go to Cairns. I have Tasmania checked off my Top 5 Australian Must-Do’s… time to check off a few more!

 

 

Tasmania: Day 3

Our third day in Tasmania started at 7:30am when we packed up our bags and boarded our tour bus to visit Cataract Gorge. Located within the city of Launceston, the Gorge was a slightly more commercialized version of a nature walk.

Cataract Gorge

We journeyed down a trail that ran alongside the river, taking about 45 minutes to complete the walk. The views were wonderful, but I thought the chair lift, manicured gardens, and swimming pool sort of ruined the natural beauty of the area. There was just too much human interference in the area to make it feel “real.” The wallaby didn’t seem to mind though.

Wallaby

Lots of Wallaby in the Garden

When we walked over the suspension bridge to meet up with the rest of our tour group, we started our journey to the Bay of Fires.

Goodbye Launceston

Tasmanian Countryside

Located along Tasmania’s east coast, this stretch of beaches was named in 1773. There is some confusion about the origin of the name. Many tourists believe that it came from the orangey-red lichen that adorns the rocks.

Red Lichen on the Rocks at the Bay of Fires

In truth, however, Captain Tobias Furneaux was traveling along the shoreline when he saw smoke all along the coast from Aboriginal fires. These fires were used in their forest regeneration system.

It was easy to forget that it was Easter Sunday as we toured Tasmania, but when we arrived at our first beach, we were unable to find a parking spot with all the holiday visitors. We ended up journeying to the second beach on our tour instead, where we had time to explore the rocky shoreline and swim if we wanted.

Rocky Coast

The water was about 62 degrees Fahrenheit, so I opted for photographing the tidal pools! It’s really interesting how the organisms in these areas survive and form their own little ecosystems.

Tidal Pool

There were some small fish, lots of plats, crabs, snails, barnacles, muscles, limpets… all sorts of creatures. There were probably a lot more I missed too…

Barnacles and Periwinkle Snails

A Crab… He wasn’t too happy I found him.

Mussels

It was also interesting to see how the rocks had been worn down by the waves. They had carved pathways through the shoreline. I had to make sure the area I was standing in wasn’t wet to avoid getting a surprise shower. The waves aren’t constant; some are smaller and some suddenly roll in much bigger. If the ground was still wet, you knew you had a chance of one of those sneaky large waves coming up the shore and spraying you (and your camera) with salty H2O.

Rocks Worn by the Waves

I loved how blue the water was! It was gorgeous.

Blue Water

The last stop in the Bay of Fires was Shelly Beach. At our first stop that morning, our tour guide, Matt, had noticed that I was interested in the shells on the beach, since we don’t have very many in Warrnambool. I apparently inspired him to take us to an extra beach at the end of the day, since we had missed the first one. He took us to Shelly Beach. There was no hiding how it got its name…

Shells on Shelly Beach

Our Tour Group Shell Searching

Our next stop was the small town of Bicheno (pronounced Beesh-no). Though the water was unusually calm that day, we were still able to check out the blowhole, which was basically a rock formation that would spurt water when the waves hit it.

Blowhole

Usually, we would have the option to participate in a penguin tour this night (at our own expense). The penguins, however, were in their molting season. At night, hundreds of penguins usually come ashore from a little island off Bicheno to return to their burrows. Apparently, they waddle all over the place, including right over your feet.

Penguin Crossing

In molting season, only a few penguins wander back to the coastline. We still could have done the tour, but we only would have seen 5-8 penguins. I didn’t mind though, because while the other tour members were getting photos of the blowhole, I was searching the coast for penguin burrows… and I found one!

Penguin Burrow

It was difficult to see, but when I peeked in I could see the little strip along its body, and I knew it was in there! The photo isn’t the best, but it’s not bad given what I had to photograph.

See the penguin?

I at least saw one penguin, so I was a happy camper!

At the end of the day, we arrived at our hostel for the night, Bicheno Backpackers. This was a nice little hostile too. The girls I was traveling with and I were in a room by ourselves, consisting of a bunk bed and queen (it even had a TV, but we never turned it on). There was a stocked kitchen area, which was much smaller than in Launceston, but fully functional. The common living area had a TV, dining table, books, games, and a few DVDs. There was also a small bathroom area with two shower stalls. Again, it wasn’t as large as in Launceston, but it was slightly more cosy. Pets seemed to be a common theme at the hostels we stayed at too. Launceston Backpackers had a fat, old, cranky cat named Fuji (there were signs everywhere not to feed him). At Bicheno Backpackers, they had a dog who loved to play! He’d bring a ball to whoever was nearby for them to throw.

Bicheno Backpackers

It was about 4:30pm and we had the rest of the night completely to ourselves to check out Bicheno. This town was really small and nothing was open, given it was the afternoon of Easter Sunday. We climbed up a small rock formation to get a view of the town and then wandered down to the beach to just sit and chat for a while.

An Aerial View of Bicheno

Bicheno Coast

We turned in slightly early that night to get ready for our final day of the Tassie Highlights Tour!

Tasmania: Days 1 & 2

After arriving back on campus yesterday, I can officially say I have visited Tasmania. It was a great Easter break, full of nature hikes, wildlife, and oceanic beaches. Our tour took us around the east coast, and we had lots of time to explore and experience a good portion of what the island has to offer.

On Friday at 6:45am we were up and ready to go at the Sherwood Park train stop at the entrance to campus. We caught the 7:15am train into Melbourne where we would be able to transfer to the airport.

Map of the Train Route

The train ride was about 3 hours and 30 minutes and relatively crowded because of the Easter holiday. I didn’t get a picture, but on the way there we sped past a mob of kangaroos! It was the first time I had seen them in the wild which was pretty neat.

Melbourne Train Station

Once we arrived at the train station, we were able to catch a bus to the Melbourne Airport where we had to wait for our 4:35pm flight to Launceston, Tasmania. It was a brief flight, about 1 hour, and we landed in Launceston around 5:20pm and found a tram to take us to Launceston Backpackers, the hostile where we would be spending the first two nights of our tour.

Launceston Backpackers

The hostile itself was nicer than I expected it to be. (It’s the brick building in the background.) I was originally placed in a room with all guys, probably because whoever was doing the booking assumed Devin was a guy’s name. They kindly changed it though so I would be with other women on the Tassie Highlights tour. I was in a room with two bunk beds, so there were four of us total. The hostile provided sheets and a blanket to use for the night. There was a male and female bathroom down the hall with a few showers and stalls for those spending the night. The bedrooms were all upstairs and they had a common kitchen, dining area, and living room downstairs. The kitchen was fully stocked with knives, utensils, cutting boards, pots and pans, etc., which was nice as it helped cut down on food expenses since we didn’t have to dine out. There was also a cabinet of non-perishable items that others had left behind after their stay. We walked to the grocery store after we got all settled in and purchased our meals for the night. On the way back, we saw a kookaburra sitting in a tree!

Laughing Kookaburra

I didn’t know they even had kookaburra on Tasmania until one was right in front of us! I kinda wish I had a mouse to feed it…

Our first night was scheduled as free time to settle in and relax, so that’s pretty much what we did. After dinner, however, we were looking at our touring schedule, and I realized that our tour would be going a day longer than we would be staying in Tasmania. When we had called the tour agency before booking our flights, we were informed that the tour would be finished on April 1st around 5:30pm in Hobart, so we had booked our flight for 10:40pm that night. Our tour schedule, however, went until 5:30 pm on April 2nd! Not cool! We spoke with our tour guide, Matt, who was also staying at the hostile that night, and he suggested that we call the tour agency and speak with them about possible reimbursement for the last night. The good news was that our tour would be in Hobart the day we needed to leave, we would just be missing a bit of the tour. From Matt’s description, it seemed the last day of the tour was a bit blasé anyways, consisting mainly of old convict buildings and convict history. Would I have liked to do that portion of the tour if we were there? Yes, probably, but I was glad we were able to do all the nature hikes and the wildlife portion of the trip. When we were able to get ahold of Under Down Under Tours, they were very helpful and kindly reimbursed us for the last night and day of our tour, and everything worked out wonderfully in the end! I might call twice for a confirmation on the ending date next time though!

Tassie Highlights Tour Map

For the first day of touring (second day of our vacation), we boarded our van with the other tour participants at 8:00am to begin traveling to Cradle Mountain. On our way there, we stopped in Elizabethtown at a little bakery for breakfast.

Elizabethtown Bakery

Outside the Bakery

On the drive in to Cradle Mountain, I saw a wallaby! I didn’t get a picture here, but I have lots of pictures from later wallaby sightings. Once we arrived we were given a choice of hikes to go on around Cradle Mountain. We decided to do the Dove Lake Circuit Walk, which was 5.7 km around the lake.

We had met another girl on the tour who was traveling from France, and she spent quite a bit of time with us this trip. It was nice to be with a tour group, because we were able to meet people from other walks of life. The two girls I was traveling with and I quickly became known to our tour guide as “Team America,” since we were the only Americans in our group. There was also a couple from Switzerland, another woman also from Switzerland, a guy from Ireland, a lady from Sydney, a woman from Korea, two other Asian women, and I believe a girl from India. It was interesting to listen to their traveling stories and hear where they’ve been.

As far as the walk around Dove Lake, it took us about 2 hours and was absolutely beautiful. The weather kept going back and forth from mist to rain, but that almost added to the splendour, making everything green and fresh. We also saw quite a few rainbows as we walked.

Rainbows!

The Boardwalk Around Dove Lake

It was so nice to see everything so green! In Warrnambool, it’s very dry, and a lot of the grass has a golden, yellowish color to it. The forested areas smelled so fresh with the rain, and the boardwalk was pretty nice. There were some areas that were a bit more rough, but you always knew where the pathway was.

I think one of the highlights that day was the wombat that wandered into our trail. They just look like big teddy bears. I’m pretty sure I froze in the middle of the pathway and half whispered, “Oh my god! It’s a wombat!” while frantically trying to get my camera out… It doesn’t take much to excite me apparently.

Wombat

He (or she) wandered around for a bit before climbing back up the mountainside and we continued on our way. When we finished the Dove Lake Circuit, I was ready to climb Marion’s Lookout. The other members of my group decided not to make the trek to the top, so I climbed solo. It was amazing! At an elevation of 1250 meters you could see for quite a distance. The walk was a bit more difficult than I expected, and there were areas where I wasn’t quite sure where the path was supposed to go, but I loved every minute of it. As you can imagine, it was extremely breezy at the top, and I literally widened my stance while I was taking pictures to keep from tipping over in the breeze, but it was great!

Up, Up, Up…

The View From the Top

On the way up I saw another wombat. It gave me a heart attack because I didn’t know it was there until it started running away from the path. When I made it to the top and started my climb back down, I found myself clinging to the chain to keep from sliding down the mountain. It was a bit challenging and lots of fun! I don’t know how I managed to do it without falling (given my general level of clumsiness), but I did! I would love to have had more time to explore Cradle Mountain. We had a limited amount of time because we were with a tour group, but you have the option to do other hikes that take several days and camp in the mountains, which sounds like a lot of fun!

… and Down, Down, Down.

When I got back to the tour van it was about 3:30pm and we were supposed to meet at 4:00pm at the Visitor Center. I wasn’t sore from walking, but the blisters that had appeared on my toes were telling me it was time to sit for a bit, so I waited with our tour guide at the van and hitched a ride with him to the Visitor Center to see if everyone had managed to make it back. Once we were all together again, we drove back to Launceston Backpackers, arriving at about 6:00pm for an afternoon of relaxation. Apparently there was an echidna on the side of the road as we drove back, but I was on the other side of the vehicle and didn’t see it. There was also a vehicle behind us, so we couldn’t stop. That’s the one animal I had on my to-see list that I didn’t see, but oh well… someday… When we got back to Launceston, we walked to Coles to purchase our meals for the evening and chattered with other tour group members that night, getting ready for our next day of Tassie Highlights.

Finding Disney in Warrnambool

As an international student, transportation is interesting. Not having a vehicle, legs become a great alternative means of transport. Granted, it takes a bit more time to get from one place to another, but someday the environment will thank me. It’s also probably much safer at the moment, since my American driving skills would probably cause me to drive on the right side of the road… which, in Australia, would lead to all sorts of traffic violations if not a catastrophic collision of epic proportions.

There is a bus transportation system that operates around the town. From what I’ve heard it costs about $2 AUD to get downtown and back, but when the weather’s nice and I’m not in a rush, I choose to save my dollars for adventures beyond downtown Warrnambool. To walk to the grocery store (either Coles or Woolworth’s) and the nearest convenience store, it takes about 30 minutes or about an hour round trip. If you need to go the the bank, however, you’re looking at a 2 hour trip. One hour walking downtown and another back. It’s great exercise! (At least that’s what you keep telling yourself as you drag your feet back to campus…) It’s also about an hour to walk to the beach, and really, I don’t mind the walk. I’ve either got company to chatter with or a WDWRadio podcast to listen to (exposing my Disney nerdy-ness) and keep me entertained.

Downtown Warrnambool

Tuesday I decided to walk to the bank and discovered this mosaic downtown. I’m not sure what the background story is behind it, but I liked that the Warrnambool water tower was represented (the big oval structure on the left) and a little koala was included (in the trees on the right). It was just something different to spruce up the streets.

Mosaic

I also found myself drawn to one of the windows of a jewelry store.

Disney Dinnerware!

Apparently, even in Warrnambool, Australia, they can’t get enough Disney! You could choose between Snow White…

Snow White Dinnerware

… or Cars 2…

Cars 2 Dinnerware

Both sets included a lunchbox, plate, bowl, mug, and egg cup (my favorite piece). I’m not sure how many American dinnerware sets would include an egg cup… but then again the display was in the window of a jewelry store…

The Disney Parks might not have reached this continent yet, but the merchandise definitely has! Now we just need to get them to make a Toy Story dinnerware set… That one I’d be mailing home!